Interpretive Summary: Peanut has lagged other crops in the use of modern genetic technology for variety development. This has been due in part to a lack of investment, but also because of some unique challenges associated with peanut. Advances in genetic technology have begun to overcome those challenges, and the use of modern genetic technology is becoming more common in peanut cultivar development. Marker assisted selection is currently being used by several peanut breeding programs, and variety releases are anticipated in the near future. There are also plans to sequence the peanut genome which should result in the development of additional molecular tools that will greatly advance peanut cultivar development

Technical Abstract:
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) has lagged other crops on use of molecular genetic technology for cultivar development in part due to lack of investment, but also because of low levels of molecular polymorphism among cultivated varieties. Recent advances in molecular genetic technology have allowed researchers to more precisely measure genetic polymorphism and enabled the development of low density genetic maps for A. hypogaea and the identification of molecular markers or QTL’s for several economically significant traits. Genomic research has also been used to enhance the amount of genetic diversity available for use in conventional breeding through the development of transgenic peanut, and the creation of TILLING populations and synthetic allotetraploids. Marker assisted selection (MAS) is becoming more common in peanut development programs, and several cultivar releases are anticipated in the near future. There are also plans to sequence the peanut genome in the near future which should result in the development of additional molecular tools that will greatly advance peanut cultivar development.